Rule 1.Scope of Rules
Part I. Scope of Rules - One Form of Action · Last amended July 26, 1995 · Last verified September 4, 2026
Full Text of Rule 1
Rule History
Amended effective January 1, 1976; amended June 25, 1979, effective July 19, 1979; amended July 31, 1986, effective July 22, 1986; amended January 6, 1995, effective February 1, 1995; amended effective July 26, 1995.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 1 answers the question a practitioner asks first: do these rules apply to my case, or do the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure? The answer is a list. Divorce, separate support, custody of minor children, annulment or affirmation of marriage, spousal and child support, paternity and support for a child born out of wedlock, modification of any of those, contempt, and abuse prevention.
The list is anchored to statute rather than left at large. It names General Laws chapters 207, 208, 209, 209A, 209C, 215 and 209D — marriage, divorce, husband and wife, abuse prevention, children born out of wedlock, probate courts, and interstate support. If the proceeding sits in one of those chapters and is heard in the Probate and Family Court Department, this is the ruleset.
The second sentence is the familiar construction clause: the rules are to be construed to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of every action they govern. It reads the same as its civil counterpart, and it does the same work — a court reaching for it is usually declining to let a procedural point defeat the merits.
Two practical consequences follow from the scope list. First, contempt is inside it, which matters because these rules contain no dedicated contempt rule the way the civil rules do. Second, the list is of proceedings, not of courts: it is the nature of the case, not the courthouse, that decides which ruleset governs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure apply in the Probate and Family Court?
Not to the proceedings Rule 1 lists. Those run on the Rules of Domestic Relations Procedure. The two sets share numbering and most text — many domestic relations rules say in terms that they are identical to their civil counterpart — but they are separate rulesets, and several civil rules have no domestic relations equivalent at all.
Does Rule 1 cover contempt?
Yes. Contempt is named in the scope list, so a complaint for contempt in the Probate and Family Court is governed by these rules. There is no separate contempt rule in this set, so the general rules on process, service, motions and hearings are what apply.
Does Rule 1 cover abuse prevention cases?
It names abuse prevention and General Laws chapter 209A in the scope list. The statute itself carries its own procedure for much of what happens in a 209A case, so the rules operate alongside it rather than displacing it.
What about a case that is not on the list?
Rule 81 is where the ruleset addresses its own limits and the proceedings to which it does not apply. Where neither ruleset supplies a procedure, Rule 83 lets a court make supplemental rules and regulate its own practice.